This proposal requests funds for an Olympus FV1000 laser scanning confocal microscope. This system will be housed in the R.M Bock Laboratories at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and be available for members of the three research entities of this building, the Institute of Molecular Virology (IMV), the Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB), and the Laboratory for Optical and Computational Instrumentation (LOCI). This instrument will be a valuable tool to investigators who study cell biology and develop novel cellular engineering approaches for stem, neuro, virus, and cancer applications. This confocal will be used for both conventional confocal applications such as multi-label fluorescence studies in 2D and 3D to more advanced applications such as photoactivation, fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP), and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). The availability of this modern research tool on site will facilitate existing projects with better equipment access and enable new studies revealing critical new information about cellular processes. )